Northern Trust Open: Second-round notebook

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LOS ANGELES -- The cut came at 1-under 141 with 75 players advancing to the weekend.

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1999 champ Ernie Els carded seven birdies and three bogeys on Friday.

Inside the Numbers

36-Hole Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Scott McCarron 132 -10 T2. Tommy Armour III 134 -8 T2. Steve Stricker 134 -8 T4. Geoff Ogilvy 135 -7 T4. K.J. Choi 135 -7 T4. Pat Perez 135 -7 T4. Rory Sabbatini 135 -7 T4. Phil Mickelson 135 -7 T4. Luke Donald 135 -7 T10. Kevin Na 136 -6 T10. Andres Romero 136 -6 T10. Bill Lunde 136 -6 T10. Dustin Johnson 136 -6

• Local favorite Scott McCarron, one of five former UCLA golf standouts honored at Thursday night's hoops contest between the host Bruins and the visiting Washington Huskies, moved into the outright lead of the Northern Trust Open with a 3-under 68 on Friday. At 10-under 132, he holds a two-stroke lead over Steve Stricker (66) and Tommy Armour III (67).

• McCarron is making his 14th start at the Northern Trust Open, with a runner-up effort in 2002 his best showing. This represents the fifth 36-hole lead/co-lead of his career. His finishes in the prior four events include a victory at the 2001 BellSouth Classic, a tie for fourth at the 1997 Freeport-McDermott Classic, a tie for 32nd at the 2005 BellSouth Classic and a tie for 35th at the 1996 Kemper Open.

• The second-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win two of six events so far this season, including Geoff Ogilvy at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and Pat Perez at the 90-hole 50th Bob Hope Classic presented by Arnold Palmer.

• Phil Mickelson's 1-over 72 on Friday snaps a string of nine consecutive sub-par rounds at Riviera. After struggling somewhat with four missed cuts in his first eight starts at the Northern Trust Open (including just seven of 23 under-par rounds), Mickelson had gone a collective 36 under par in his last nine rounds before his over-par effort on Friday. The left-hander skipped the tournament from 2002-06, but has finished inside the top two the last two years (second in 2007, won in 2008)

• Stricker is making his sixth start at the Northern Trust Open, with a tie for 11th in 2008 is his best showing in three made cuts. His 66 on Friday is his best effort in 18 rounds at the tournament. Prior to opening rounds of 68-66 this week, his previous best score at the Northern Trust Open was a 2-under 69, set on four different occasions.

• Tommy Armour III is making his 18th career start at the Northern Trust Open. He has 10 made cuts in 17 previous appearances, including top-10 finishes in 1998 (tie for sixth) and 2000 (tie for fifth). He has now played 54 rounds at the tournament, with matching 67s the first two days equaling his career-low rounds at the event (Round 1 in 2002, Round 3 in 1998).

• With identical opening rounds of 67-72, Jeff Klauk and D.J. Trahan (both tied for 34th) posted their sixth made cut of the season. They are the only players on TOUR to perform the feat.

• David Duval posted a 2-under 69 on Friday to move to 3-under 139 through two rounds. It represents just the third time since the beginning of the 2007 season that he has made the cut in consecutive starts.

• Ernie Els, winner of the 1999 Northern Trust Open, posted seven birdies and three bogeys on his way to a 4-under 67 on Friday. The 16-time PGA TOUR winner is making his sixth-career start at the event, with his last appearance resulting in a tie for third in 2007.

• Seventeen-year-old Ryo Ishikawa (73-71), playing this week on a Commissioner's Foreign Exemption, finished his TOUR debut at 2-over 144. Ishikawa's next scheduled TOUR start will be at the Transitions Championship the week of March 16-22.

• Vincent Johnson (70-74), recipient of the Charlie Sifford Exemption, also missed the cut with a two-day total of 2-over 144 that included a triple bogey on the par-4 fifth hole on Friday.

• Daniel Chopra, at 2-under 140, made the cut this week to snap a streak of five consecutive starts without making a cut (four missed cuts, one withdrawal). His last made cut was a tie for 27th in his title defense at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.

• The round of the day was turned in by Bob Estes with a 6-under 65, jumping all the way from a tie for 96th to a tie for 14th.

• The scoring averages at par-71 Riviera was 70.451 on Thursday and 70.826 on Friday. The par-5 first hole has played the easiest the first two rounds at 4.260, but has been followed up by the hardest hole, the par-4 second at 4.281.